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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Page 1 of 2 1 2 Base Word vs. Root word (or root) #173503 02/13/08 03:25 AM 02/13/08 03:25 AM Joined: Nov 2007 Posts: 33 California, USA Bigwig Rabbit OP newbie Bigwig Rabbit   OP newbie Joined: Nov 2007 Posts: 33 California, USA Among our faculty, there is a casual banter going on about root words Vs. base words. One school of thought is that the two are interchangeable terms. The other group adamantly contends that a base word is one that can stand alone, while a root is a word part that needs some sort of inflectional ending, prefix, suffix, or combination of those in order to be sensible. My thought is that some roots can stand alone, such as flex, while many other roots cannot (like glo as in conglomerate). Is there any consensus here that can lay to rest this most scholarly and magmanimous dispute? http://shooper60.googlepages.com/home Re: Base Word vs. Root word (or root) [Re: Bigwig Rabbit] #173504 02/13/08 03:53 AM 02/13/08 03:53 AM Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Vermont Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Buffalo Shrdlu   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Vermont hmm, I can't glom on to the idea that they're not synonyms. though I suppose someone can draw that distinction. formerly known as etaoin... Re: Base Word vs. Root word (or root) [Re: Bigwig Rabbit] #173516 02/13/08 12:10 PM 02/13/08 12:10 PM Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel zmjezhd   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh In describing inflected languages, like Latin, Greek, or Sanskrit, a distinction between affixes (pre-, in-, and suffixes) and desinences (grammatical endings) is usually made. The former are usually called derivational morphemes (they change the meaning), and the latter inflectional (they indicate the syntactic relationships between words in a phrase). In the study of morphology, there is a difference between free and bound morphemes: free ones can stand on their own, but bound ones are usually affixes, though some like the rasp in raspberry are not. The problem may be with less inflected languages, like English or Chinese. There a lexeme (aka lexical item, word) like man consists of a single morpheme, though come to think of it the Latin nominative singular vir 'man' has no explicit nominitival desinence, as rosa (i.e., the -a) does). Distinguishing between roots (single morphemes) and bases (root morpheme plus one or more affixes, or compounds) seems like a goodly distinction, though perhaps overkill for English morphology. [Addendum: More on roots and stems.] Last edited by zmjezhd; 02/13/08 02:01 PM. Ceci n'est pas un seing. Re: Base Word vs. Root word (or root) [Re: Bigwig Rabbit] #173518 02/13/08 12:40 PM 02/13/08 12:40 PM Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Netherlands, the Hague BranShea Carpal Tunnel BranShea   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Netherlands, the Hague Does not base have a double meaning? 1. Serving as or forming a base; "the painter applied a base coat followed by two finishing coats". 3. Of low birth or station (`base' is archaic in this sense); "baseborn wretches with dirty faces"; "of humble (or lowly) (among other definitions) While root, even used in a figurative way is so much to the point . Re: Base Word vs. Root word (or root) [Re: BranShea] #173520 02/13/08 01:35 PM 02/13/08 01:35 PM Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel zmjezhd   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh Roots are also base, being all covered in dirt and such. Latin radix, radicis, (whence English radish and radical), Greek ριζα (rhiza), and German Wurzel are all cognate: from PIE *wrād- 'root' (also here). Ceci n'est pas un seing. Re: Base Word vs. Root word (or root) [Re: zmjezhd] #173528 02/13/08 07:03 PM 02/13/08 07:03 PM Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Netherlands, the Hague BranShea Carpal Tunnel BranShea   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Netherlands, the Hague Yes, I know my roots: radijsjes en wortelen. I know my base too. Re: Base Word vs. Root word (or root) [Re: BranShea] #173530 02/13/08 07:18 PM 02/13/08 07:18 PM Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel zmjezhd   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh I know my base too. All your base are belong to us. Ceci n'est pas un seing. Re: Base Word vs. Root word (or root) [Re: zmjezhd] #173541 02/13/08 11:46 PM 02/13/08 11:46 PM Joined: Nov 2007 Posts: 33 California, USA Bigwig Rabbit OP newbie Bigwig Rabbit   OP newbie Joined: Nov 2007 Posts: 33 California, USA zmjezhd, Though I had to read your post 4 times to understand it, I declare it the most helpful. The links were quite useful as well. Now I can return to my small pond and be the big fish, dazzling them with my brilliance (as opposed to baffling them). http://shooper60.googlepages.com/home Re: ein grundriss der ichsucht [Re: Bigwig Rabbit] #173544 02/14/08 12:58 AM 02/14/08 12:58 AM Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel zmjezhd   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh Now I can return to my small pond and be the big fish, dazzling them with my brilliance (as opposed to baffling them). Thank you. Being a big fish, as well as a lapine bigwig, is a goodlier thing than being a lophalgiac, paleocopric pedant as I. Ceci n'est pas un seing. Re: ein grundriss der ichsucht [Re: zmjezhd] #173550 02/14/08 02:27 AM 02/14/08 02:27 AM Joined: Aug 2002 Posts: 2,154 British Columbia, Canada Z Zed Pooh-Bah Zed   Pooh-Bah Z Joined: Aug 2002 Posts: 2,154 British Columbia, Canada Awww. but you're such a cute lophalgiac, paleocopric pedant. Page 1 of 2 1 2 Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------   Information and announcements   Q&A about words   Wordplay and fun   Words and languages in schools   Miscellany   Weekly Themes   Looking for (writers, speakers, ...) (Old) Weekly themes. 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